First Contact: Terran Empire
by ACE Albert
Summary: Things are heating up for the UFP in a slightly altered post VOY era. In another universe, humanity is preparing to make a defiant last stand against alien aggressors. But what does fate really have in store for these two universes?
1. Chapter 1

**First Contact: Terran Empire**

A Star Trek Crossover

Chapter 1

_Stellar Frontier - Earth Orbit - Terran Empire - 2107 AD_

Fleet Admiral Patton was worried. Just a few short years ago, he reminisced, everything had finally seemed to be looking up for humans. A stable, democratic worldwide government had been formed in the 2050s after a bloody free-for-all war among the nations of Earth, and during the ensuing era of global peace, prosperity, and cooperation, wondrous technologies were developed and used to greatly improve the quality of life on Earth.

Replicator technology ensured that no one would ever go hungry. High speed boost drives were developed that allowed rapid interplanetary travel within the Sol System. Habisphere technology, vastly improved from the old NASA prototypes, had led to the design and creation of self-sustaining colony domes that could survive on the surface of literally any terrestrial planet.

By 2100, most diseases had been eradicated on Earth and its colonies in the Sol System, everyone who wanted a job had a job due to the surge of space exploration and colonization, all Terran ships were equipped with rudimentary defensive shields and tractor beam technology, transporter technology had been developed that eliminated the need of ships to land in order to offload or pick up supplies or personnel, and, best of all, scientists were ironing out the last issues with a FTL drive known as Q drive.

In late 2103, Q drive had been perfected, and by 2104, all Terran ships had been equipped with a Q drive and science ships were sent out to scout nearby star systems to explore the possibility of setting up colonies beyond the Sol System. Yes, thought Patton, in 2104, everything was going even better than could be expected and humanity's future seemed bright.

It was in 2105 that everything changed. A long-range Terran survey ship made contact with a ship belonging to the Arcean Empire, marking Earth's First Contact with an alien race. It wasn't long after that when another Terran ship made contact with a ship belonging to the Drengin Empire. Initial talks with representatives of both Empires seemed harmless enough, and Earth was looking forward to being able to participate in the interstellar community.

However, shortly after the two First Contacts, the Arceans and Drengins each quickly colonized a star system close to Sol, and set up military bases and supply and communication lines back to their respective home empires. The Terran Empire had detected the Arceans' and Drengins' colonization activities in the two nearby systems, and quietly started keeping an eye on their activities. When both the Arcean and Drengin Empires cut all contact with the Terran Empire and began fortifying their respective near-Sol systems, the Terran Empire, horrified, frantically militarized, cranking up starship production to record levels and trying their best to fortify the Sol System against any alien incursion.

However, it was too little, too late. Once the Arceans and Drengins finished fortifying their systems in 2106, they both immediately launched a full-scale invasion of Sol. The Terran defenders, unused to space warfare, were rolled back quickly. They fought hard but they were fighting a losing war.

Pluto and Mars, as well as the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, quickly fell to the Drengins, while Saturn and Jupiter's large moons - Titan, Rhea, Callisto, Ganymede, Io, and Europa - fell to the Arcean Empire. The Terrans, formerly masters of the entire Sol System, were now relegated to Mercury, Earth and Luna, Triton (Neptune's large moon), a few asteroid bases, and a very tenuous hold on Venus. And the Terrans only had these few remaining assets because, after the initial invasion, the Arceans and Drengins had suddenly started battling each other's ships and colony holdings, launching only occasional raids against the remaining Terran assets.

What little information Terran Intelligence had gathered had lead the Terran Empire to conclude that the Arceans and Drengins were old enemies and rivals, that they had fought many wars before in the past, and that greed over each others' new assets in the Sol System had most likely triggered the current Arcean/Drengin war. If it weren't for the fact that the Arceans and Drengins were preoccupied with attacking each other, the Terran Empire would have long since ceased to exist, Patton mused darkly.

He knew well that it was only because neither the Arceans nor the Drengins considered the Terrans much of a threat that they were still alive. However, he knew that as soon as there was a lull in the Arcean/Drengin war or the war ended, the doom of the Terran Empire and the human race would be nigh. Patton was worried because just now it seemed that just such a lull in the war had occurred. Although the war hadn't formally ended to his knowledge, both Empires were tired of the fighting and apparently by unspoken agreement the ships and fleets of each Empire were mostly leaving the ships and fleets of the other Empire alone. It appeared that both Empires wanted a chance to rebuild their ships and fleets and properly develop and use their newfound assets in the Sol System.

With this lull in fighting, the attention of both Empires was once again turning toward the remaining Terran holdings in Sol. Patton knew that this could spell Judgment Day for the human race. During the year or so the current Arcean/Drengin war was raging, the Terran Empire had been furiously researching and developing new offensive and defensive technologies (most notably Force Field technology that was slightly superior even to the Arcean and Drengin shields), many acquired or given a jump start from the salvaged debris of destroyed Arcean and Drengin ships, and the shipyards had been working overtime cranking out new ships equipped with the new technologies and refitting old ships to bring them up to date. All in all, the current Terran starfleet was much more powerful than the old one at the time of the Arcean/Drengin invasion of Sol, yet Patton knew that they were still hardly a match for the forces of either the Arcean or Drengin Empires, let alone both, due to simple numbers and available resources. He prayed that a miracle would occur to save the human race from either genocide or eternal slavery at the hands of the Arceans or the Drengins.

---

"Sir, scanners are picking up 20 Drengin colony-carrying ships and 30 escorting ships on a direct course for Venus!" exclaimed the sensor officer on the starbase-class USS StarControl, flagship of the Terran Starfleet.

Fleet Admiral Patton snapped to duty in an instant. "How powerful are those 30 escorts, officer?" he barked. "15 battlecruisers, sir; the rest are marauders." Patton came to a decision in an instant. If Venus was lost, morale, already low, would plummet further, ensuring the defeat of the Terran Empire. "Order all ships in system to intercept that fleet before it reaches Venus," Patton tersely announced. "Sir? That would leave Earth largely defenseless," said the First Officer, hesitantly. "Carry out my order. We cannot afford to lose Venus, no matter what the course," said Patton.

Fleet Admiral Patton watched grimly as the last of the ships assigned to defend Venus engaged Q-drive and vanished in a flash of light. "Will Venus be safe, sir?" asked an ensign. "We can only hope, son." replied Patton heavily.

_Star Trek Continuity - Starfleet Command - United Federation of Planets  
_

Fleet Admiral Picard was enjoying the view from his desk when suddenly red alert sirens wailed throughout the complex. He hurriedly rushed to the command center and barked, "Report! What in hell is going on?" "Multiple unidentified vessels just appeared in orbit of Earth, admiral!" replied the nearest officer. "Hail them!" ordered Picard.

Nearby, Admiral Janeway was looking intensely at scans of the ships that had appeared without any warning in Earth orbit. They looked almost biological in appearance, and they had emerged from what seemed to be spatial rifts. Suddenly, it all made sense. "Species 8472!" exclaimed Janeway.

---

"They're responding, sir."

"Open channel," said Picard. A second later, a very familiar face appeared on the communications screen - that of Boothby. "This is Fleet Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, representing the United Federation of Planets," stated Picard. "On behalf of our species, I would like to open full diplomatic relations with the Federation," said the Species 8472 Boothby look-alike.

---

A shuttle descended and landed in front of Starfleet Command. Boothby emerged, holding a rose. "This is for you, Katie," he said to Janeway. Nearby, Picard cleared his throat noisily. "Ahem," said Picard. But Boothby was not listening to him. He and Janeway were going off into Starfleet Command, talking between themselves.

_Star Trek Continuity - Romulus - Romulan Star Empire_

Praetor Shinzon sat and considered. He had managed to escape the dying Scimitar warbird via an experimental long-range transporter, but Picard still eluded his grasp.

"3 more Scimitar-class warbirds finished, Praetor," reported the construction manager. "Good, good," said Shinzon. "Soon we will destroy the Federation!"

_Stellar Frontier - Earth Orbit - Terran Empire - 2107 AD_

Things were not looking good, Fleet Admiral Patton fretted. Over half of the fleet assigned to defend Venus had been seriously disabled or destroyed, for the loss of only a quarter of the invading Drengin fleet. At this rate, they would still lose Venus, and worse, with the Terran starfleet largely shattered, after Venus fell Earth would be easy pickings for either the Arceans or Drengins. And if Earth fell, the Terran Empire and humanity was effectively doomed, as the defenses of the remaining bases and colonies in the Sol System were weaker than those of Earth.

"Send an urgent distress call, all frequencies," Patton ordered.

_Star Trek Continuity - Romulan Neutral Zone - United Federation of Planets  
_

Captain Peter Johnson was bored. Patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone tended to make people bored. So it was with no small amount of relief that he strode onto the bridge of his starship, the prototype USS Prometheus, when his first officer announced that the scanners were picking up something interesting: what seemed to be a distress call emanating from a plasma storm 5.5 light-years away in Federation space.

"Set course for that plasma storm, Warp 7. Engage!" said Johnson, glad to finally have something to do.

---

The USS Prometheus dropped out of warp in front of the plasma storm.

"Report!" exclaimed Johnson. "Scanners have picked up a space-time disturbance in the middle of the plasma storm," said the Science Officer on duty. "The distress call appears to be emanating from the anomaly."

"So the anomaly would probably be a wormhole of some sort?" asked Johnson, who was getting excited at the thought of discovering a potentially valuable wormhole in Federation space.

"We would have to launch a probe to see," intoned T'Ravik, the ever-stoic Vulcan First Officer. "Do it, and report the results to me," ordered Johnson, striding into his ready room.

_Star Trek Continuity - Starfleet Command - United Federation of Planets  
_

Fleet Admiral Picard was in a bad mood. Janeway and Boothby had greeted each other like long-lost friends and had proceeded to ignore both him and the rest of the gathered Federation admiralty. After trying and failing to interrupt them for the better part of an hour, he had angrily retreated to his office. He was still trying to deduce what in the galaxy Species 8472 could be up to when Janeway excitedly burst into his office.


	2. Chapter 2

**First Contact: Terran Empire**

A Star Trek Crossover

Chapter 2

_Star Trek Continuity_

Captain Johnson was sitting in his ready room wondering why a new wormhole had just popped up, in a previously undetected plasma storm no less. "Hmm," he mused, "if the plasma storm had been there before, the Federation would have known about it and mapped it a long time ago, what with all the ships patrolling the Neutral Zone over the years... maybe, just maybe the plasma storm wasn't there before either... but why ..." Johnson had gotten to this point in his reasoning and had been getting more and more confused by the minute, when his train of thought was quite rudely interrupted by a loud boom and a bright flash of light that made the entire room painfully, unbearably bright, forcing Johnson to cover his eyes. When the light faded, Johnson opened his eyes slowly, blinking a few times and thinking "what the hell just happened?" That was when he saw the being known as Q sitting on his desk, looking at him.

"Congratulations!" Q exclaimed. "Huh", said Johnson, who was quite bewildered. Q sighed theatrically. "Do I really have to spell everything out for you?" said Q. Johnson sighed. This was going to be a long day.

_Star Trek Continuity – Earth – Starfleet Command_

"Jean-Luc!" exclaimed Janeway, out of breath and trembling with excitement. "Report, Admiral", barked an irritated Picard.

"Yes _sir_," said Janeway, while mentally rolling her eyes. "The Vorlons would like to establish what we know as formal diplomatic ties with the Federation. They" Here Janeway was cut off as the Fleet Admiral said "The Vorlons?" "Oh," said Janeway, "sorry, I forgot to explain. Species 8472 was just the Borg designation for this race, and we used it as their name because we didn't know their real name until now. They actually refer to themselves as Vorlons."

"OK," said Picard. "Please continue."

"So as I was saying," said Janeway, "the Vorlons would like to establish formal diplomatic ties with the Federation, and as such they would like to establish an Embassy here on Earth. They would also like us to send an Ambassador to Fluidic Space to establish a Federation Embassy in their realm. They have stated that they would like to pursue "significantly closer ties" with us."

"This will have to be approved by the Federation Council, as you know," said Picard.

"Yes, I know," said Janeway. "I believe that the Vorlons could represent a powerful ally for the Federation, and I want you and the rest of the Admiralty to help convince the Council to act in the Federations' best interests by approving this first step toward a potential alliance in the future."

Jean-Luc Picard sighed. "Janeway," he said flatly, "the Federation has always been devoted to peace. Aggressively seeking or courting powerful military allies is not part of the goals of the Federation."

Janeway's temper rose and she glared at the Fleet Admiral. "Picard," she said icily. "In case you don't realize, there are many hostile races out there in this galaxy that pose a serious threat to the very existence of the Federation. Peace and exploration are only meaningful when you are actually free and alive. The pursuit of peace and cooperation is a laudable goal, but most hostile forces out there don't give a damn about peace or cooperation. Don't use the example of how the Klingons went from being Federation enemies to a staunch ally to try to convince me that all races can be made to see the light and that thus the Federation doesn't need to be strong militarily. Most races won't listen at all and will merely attack until either us or they are destroyed. If the Romulans thought they had a decent chance of beating Starfleet, they would be invading the Federation faster than Q could snap his fingers! And how would you ever convince the Borg to co-exist peacefully with us? Even the Klingons would have conquered us a long time before Praxis ever exploded and forced them to make nice with us, if not for the military strength of Starfleet protecting the Federation and its ideals. Picard, ensuring the continuing survival of the Federation, which includes having strong military forces and alliances to deter hostile forces, is something that is prerequisite to the successful pursuit of peace."

Picard blinked. He blinked again. Still speechless, he finally managed to choke out, "Dismissed, _Admiral_." Janeway stalked out. She thought to herself, "For the future of the Federation, I hope at least part of that sinks through that thick skull of his..."

_Star Trek Continuity_

Johnson was glaring at Q. "So you" – here he jabbed a finger into Q's 'chest' – "created this trans-universal wormhole as yet another test for us to pass?" he said angrily. "The Federation has enough problems of its own in this universe; we don't have the desire or resources to deal with whatever problems the universe on the other side of that wormhole may contain."

"Relax, my dear Captain," said Q, "helping the alternate Earth will indirectly help your precious Federation with the problems it's having in this little section of space you call the 'Alpha Quadrant'." And with that cryptic remark, Q snapped his fingers, and was gone rather anticlimactically.

Johnson sighed. It was time to contact Starfleet Command for instructions.

---

A few minutes later, the Prometheus was still unable to establish a subspace connection with Starfleet Command. "It's as if we're being jammed somehow," said the Science Officer, "but with the subspace sensors I have been unable to detect anything abnormal; it's as if our communications array just suddenly stopped working properly." That was when an unexpected voice spoke up from behind Johnson, "Johnson, Johnson," said the voice, "this is not the time to contact Starfleet Command, this is the time to respond to that distress call!"

Johnson sighed – again. "Q," he groaned, "leave us the hell alone!"

"I'm deeply wounded," said Q, faking a hurt expression and clutching at where his heart would be – if he was a human, which he wasn't. "I try to help the best I can, and what do I get in exchange?"

"Q," interrupted Johnson, whose patience was really wearing thin. "Say what you have to say, and get out of my ship!"

"Fine, fine," said Q, "I'll get off your precious ship, but go through that wormhole, and do it in the next, oh say, 5 of your minutes, or I'll toss your ship through for you." With that, Q vanished as if he had never been there, leaving a worried but thoughtful bridge crew behind.


End file.
